[IC] ANKL. Part 2

[Raindrop Valkyrie]

Kaede

Kaede had offered the smile back to Tys as she had left, however it was nothing more than a practiced courtesy. The nod of acknowledgment accompanying the false smile was much more genuine, and often what Kaede would leave Tys in parting. Perhaps she was the only person that she didn't need to pretend and have emotion around but the practice certainly never hurt. The girl was never sure why Tys seemed to not mind her... but she appreciated there was at least someone she didn't have to be anything other than herself in their company. Was this something allowed of a broken doll? Well... even if no, Kaede didn't care.

She made back to her room, some spring in her step. She preferred to linger within the halls as little as possible. There was the thought that whoever the church had sent would arrive early as well... She felt something, knowing that Alva had been there still. The church weren't beyond using underhanded tactics and a roommate would make a good target for some prying if she freely gave information. All of this served to hasten her steps, though not more than a brisk walk. There was no certainly anything was occurring and even if it were it'd be best to arrive with a much more put together demeanor. Part of any such matter was appearance. lt'd certainly leave a sour taste in the mouth if she suddenly flew at full pace barging into her own room. Well... so Kaede had thought. Trying to work from how others viewed the world was quite difficult and never quite perfect. But, due to lack of sharp emotions it was hard to discern these things from her own perspective. 

lt had seemed she was correct to have whatever those feelings were however confirmed as she had opened the door to her room and another was stood within. She heard the last question leave the girl's lips and given she'd never seen her before, gathered that it was clear who this person was. Crystal Clear. "l've one more by the name of Arturia, she also resides here. However she is out at the moment. l cannot speak for Alva." Kaede said, firmly and while continuing with her business. She had began flipping off her shoes as was typical. She'd have thought to stop but it was the usual step she carried out when she arrived at home. "l was returning to speak to you about this..." Kaede had turned to speak with Alva, no longer paying the new presence mind as she was addressing her friend.  "But it seems you are already acquainted. l may not have much need of an explanation."

[Shamitako]

Kindle

 

"Kaede, Alva, and Arturia." Kindle noted to herself. She scratched at her chest a bit while she contemplated what to do now that Kaede was here. She'd hoped that letting rumor of her visit spread would have kept Kaede away longer. Then again, Alva didn't seem to be getting her anywhere.

 

This was when a third girl decided to enter the room, hurriedly pushing her way through the door. Kindle assumed this to be Arturia. Rather curiously, Arturia was not alone. A fourth girl was held unconscious in her rather tired-looking arms.

 

"Oh," Kindle said flatly, "I guess we're having a party. If you'd told me I'd have brought dessert." She pointed aggressively at the unconscious girl, "Who is that and why are you carrying her?" 

[Chevaleresse]

"Who the fuck are you and why are you in my goddamn room?" Arturia countered irritably. She didn't mean to be quite so hostile, but she was having a long day and terrible luck with strangers recently. This stranger couldn't be Kaede's friend; to be blunt, Kaede didn't have friends, other than herself and possibly Alva. "She's my friend and she's not feeling well, so I took her back here to keep an eye on her. And I'm sure both of us would feel a lot better if we had the room to ourselves." The girl's attitude wasn't winning her many points either. This was her space, the one place she could go and feel like she wasn't going to be judged, and now she was being interrogated? Not to mention how poor this timing was. She had a lot of things to deal with in a very short period; there wasn't any time left over to deal with nosy strangers.

[Raindrop Valkyrie]

Kaede

"Even if we were having such a thing... you'd not be invited." Kaede said flatly, no real tone of indignation attached to it. A simple matter that she had no idea who this was. She seemed to have invite herself in without any warrant... so to speak. Perhaps taking advantage of Alva somehow. The girl did seem to have quite a nice streak, that much was notable in the short time Kaede had known the greenhaired people pleaser.

"Now... l am here you may leave this space. You're here for me, no? lf either of them are relevant to the matter at hand they shall be summoned as per usual and typical protocol. l shouldn't have to remind you not to badger people in their homes. You should know what's expected of your station" Kaede rattled out calmly staring at the unknown entity. "Wait in the hall please, l need time to settle my affairs before we move to a more suitable location."

[GodofGamingRWBY]

Platinum

 

At Aker's question, Platinum merely shook her head, "Unfortunately, the closest I've gotten to figuring that out is speculation that her strength came from a genetic mutation. Though that could simply be a cover up" she replied. She'd have to keep looking at Kelsey to figure out if there was any actual sources of her strength, or if it was truly a mystery as to where she got it.

 

Suddenly, Platinum snapped her fingers, "Ah, right. I've been planning on researching the goddesses in detail once I've gotten the time. Seems as good a place to search."

[Shamitako]

Kindle

 

Kindle narrowed her eyes at Arturia's outburst. Perhaps it was merely stress over a companion's injury that caused such a response, but Kindle's instincts told her there was more to it than that. What more, exactly, would have to come to light later, as Kaede's words prompted Kindle to a different response.

 

"My station, you say?" she sneered, "You aren't even ranked high enough to know what my station is, let alone how it operates or the rules that constrain it. It is well within my purview to badger people in their homes. And I will do so at my discretion. 

 

The fact of the matter is, Ustole Kaede, you and anyone connected to you are highly suspect in a matter of religious and national security. Should I deem it that any of you are a threat to the stability of our holy nation, your lives will be immediately forfeit. If you wish to avoid that outcome, you will all answer my questions swiftly and truthfully."

[Twinwolf]

Alva

 

Alva had been about to answer and then... well, and then things moved quickly. Kaede came back and answered for her, and then before Alva could so much as say 'hi' Arturia came in carrying a body - er, an unconscious one - and got angry at the visitor, and then Kaede got mad at her and she started wondering if she'd fucked up by letting her in... "Kaede, do you know who she is-" and then she was cut off again. This time in a much more scary way. Alva's eyes widened at the death threat... and she really hoped that her answers had been good enough to that point. 

[Chevaleresse]

"Then hurry up and ask, I've had a long-ass day." Arturia was, rather abruptly, holding onto that anger instead of the other way around. It kept the spike of nervousness out of her voice, mostly. "People are usually a little more cooperative if you don't lead with death threats, too." She hesitated to try and call any bluffs; given she was, herself, a fairly unassuming fifteen-year-old (if one who attracted far more admirers than she cared for) and could conjure up a sword made of lightning by mostly just wanting to, it would be unwise to assume that this girl couldn't do something similar, however unlikely. Arturia had the feeling that Lilith might be just fine if she had another. . . outburst, but the small girl was solidly asleep right now and there were a number of reasons she'd rather not bet on it. "We're having a party. Pah, it's my room," she grumbled under her breath.

[Shamitako]

Sharp

 

"It does seem that everything leads back to the goddesses." Sharp agreed, "We could go to the library right now. I'll leave a note and our roommates can meet us there."

 

Sharp seemed rather giddy at the suggestion. He rather loved research, and Platinum seemed to have chosen a much more fruitful path than he had.

[GodofGamingRWBY]

Platinum

 

And with that, Platinum nodded, standing up from the bunkbead and stretching, since she had been sitting down for quite a long time, "Alright then, I'll meet you down there" she replied as she picked up the book she was reading through, before heading towards the door, into the hall, and after making sure to shut said door, towards the library.

[Shamitako]

Kindle

 

"Your cooperation is appreciated." Kindle sneered at Arturia's snarky response, "I have three questions to start:

First, there was a cataclysmic event that resulted in a large crater, at the time you were all in a field nearby. Were any of you involved in this event?

 

"Second, have any of you encountered anyone blasphemously claiming to be one of the goddesses? 

 

"Third, Arturia, who is that unconscious girl and why did you carry her back to your room?"

 

As she asked her questions, Kindle moved a bit away from the window and seemed to relax slightly, though she still scratched her chest in an unsettling manner.

[Twinwolf]

Alva, thankfully, could answer these questions honestly. At least in a way that she thought would keep her... mostly safe. Why was she being threatened with death so often lately? It was absolutely ridiculous...

 

"I definitely wasn't involved in the crater thing. Kaede, and I were going in the other direction from that when it happened, after I got my shoulder dislocated in dodgeball. The crater thing was kinda scary... And I haven't met anyone claiming to be a goddess. That'd be kinda crazy wouldn't it?" Alva said honestly enough. She and Kaede and Riley had been going the other way when it happened. And then been accosted by a lady who could mess with time and wanted to use her as some kind of eternal human sacrifice. She couldn't answer the third question, but did look at the one Arturia had brought with her... hey, wasn't she the one who threw the ball that hard? 

[Chevaleresse]

Arturia felt her irritation spike at the stranger's tone - which was probably a good thing, as it helped hide the increase in anxiety she felt at the questioning. She was involved in this, whatever it really was, which ratcheted her potential threat level even higher. She hadn't heard of the government running around employing magical teenagers, but that didn't necessarily mean it wasn't happening. "It put me in the hospital for weeks, if that counts. I was out in the woods trying to make sure she" - she nodded her head towards Lilith, who Arturia was starting to lay out across one of the beds  "-was okay. I ended up worse off than she was, as far as I know." The silver haired girl took a deep breath before continuing; she hadn't meant to do it at all, but she did her best to pass it off as continued annoyance at the situation. Besides, it was reasonable to look a little anxious, right? There was a stranger in her room threatening her and her friend.

 

"And no, I haven't encountered any blasphemers, not that. . ." I believe in blasphemy at all . . . "a place like this would have that many." Maybe that was her excuse: a nonbeliever being nervous when confronted by a church official had plenty of reason to be nervous. Probably not the safest ploy, but maybe she'd be dismissed as something minor and left while she chased the bigger fish. "And I already told you. She's not feeling well, so I brought her back here to rest up. This isn't abnormal for her, so I figured it wasn't worth bothering anyone important for. Apparently someone important thought it was worth bothering me for, though."  

[Shamitako]

Sharp

 

Sharp jotted down a note for Caliko and Esyllt before following after Platinum. He arrived at the library shortly after, and immediately went into research strategy. "I think there's two things we should look into during our research." he explained, "Layo mysticism looks at the godesses in a different way, so we should study that more. We should also look at ancient accounts of the goddesses, see if any suggest similar ideas to those from the south or connect to how Tressa or Kelaey's power worked.

 

"I suggest we each take on subject, gather as many books as possible, and then meet in one of the study rooms to read and discuss. Which subject would you prefer?"

[GodofGamingRWBY]

Platinum

 

"I've managed to make a good bit of progress with Layo Mysticism, so I can avoid going over the same information. You can take the goddesses" Platinum replied once Sharp had arrived. She'd have to finish her current book as well to see if there was anything else of note in it soon though.

 

Either way, with that, Platinum walked off, aiming to collect as many books as she could get on her chosen subject.

[Raindrop Valkyrie]

Kaede

 

There was a lot for the young Ustole to unpack and process here. Firstly that this seemed not just any church official. One of seeming import past what she had known existed. As well as she knew the inner workings of the church apparently that still held secrets she didn't know of. This wasn't truly world-shattering, after all this is what the church did. Dabble in secrecy. She couldn't help but feel this made little sense. The church had to know that she herself was not present at the events of the cataclysmic disaster when it unfolded. They had to have better information than what was being presented especially if they were sending one of a station she didn't know. Had this been some small routine legwork they'd not send someone of this nature.

She figured she'd start from he top as she weaved herself through these mysteries. "l apologize for my friend's terseness and my missteps. l had figured that this wasn't such a pressing matter as my alibi should be well known to the church and that was simply a formality rather than a true investigation. That was presumptuous of me." she said offering a slight dip in her posture, she did mean this sincerely or as sincerely as she was capable of. "As for Arturia, l hope you'll forgive my friend. Times have been quite rough for her which l can attest from my visits while she was hospitalized. lt's a large favour l know and you don't owe me that." lt took Kaede but a moment to realize she'd not yet answered Kindle's battery of questions.

She luckily had Alva's first answer to back up her own story, "l was not present at the splitting and only heard of the event sometime afterwards. As Alva said she had her shoulder dislocated. l reset it back in place but we went back to the nurse to make sure that that'd be enough and there'd be no underlying issues that present later on. lf you need further proof there are two other girls that were along with us. One girl by the name of Riley and one Esyllt, they can further corroborate if need be." even if this weren't the truth, Kaede's ability to remain absolutely calm and level would make it hard to discern she was lying anyway. She had an air of utter confidence in her words, one that utterly unshakable. She was quite the cool customer, nothing but stillness in the frigid lakes that were her eyes. "l've not come into contact with anyone claiming to be any of the 4 goddesses. Had l, they'd have been reported post-haste." this certainly a lie if thy were someone important to her she would not. However she didn't falter one bit, after all it was easier to maintain a half truth and but a cinch for Kaede.

"lf there is anything else that requires answering you've my full cooperation. lam but a humble servant of the church and it is the least l can do to serve her." 

[Shamitako]

Platinum

 

In a rush to quickly gather as many books as possible, Platinum turned the corner into the stacks far too quickly and without looking ahead, causing her to barrel directly into another girl who was carrying a stack of books almost as tall as Platinum. As would be expected of such a situation, the other girl was knocked onto her behind and the books were flung everywhere. The girl gave a surprised yelp, but managed to recover quickly when she recognized her unintentional assailant. 

 

"Oh, hi Miss Platinum." Lexi Aislin greeted Platinum cheerfully even as she winced a little from her wounded buttox. 

 

Sharp

 

Being very familiar with the library and how it was organized, Sharp knew exactly where to look for the books. But he needed to reserve a study room, and he liked the librarian, so he headed over to the front desk first. He was surprised to find that the woman behind the counter was someone entirely new. Sharp had to do a double take, because for a moment he thought she was a boy. She was very short and looked Southern. She was wearing a short blue dress that was a little too big for her, so she kept having to tug the shoulder back up. Whenever it slipped Sharp could see that her arm had quite a few stitches in it, though it looked like they'd largely finished their job.

 

As Sharp approached this new face, she looked up from the book she was reading. A bubble of gum emerged from her mouth, but instead of popping it she just took a finger and shoved it back inside.

 

"What can I do for ya?" she asked, her accent slightly hinting that she might be from Nayo, though with OI close to the border it was impossible to be sure.

 

"Um, if it's not too rude of me to ask, what happened to Mother Terrace?" Sharp asked.

 

"Had to retire. Something about broken legs. I'm sure she's fine." the woman answered dismissively.

 

"Oh, I see." Sharp wondered how someone could so casually remark on something like that, but decided to ignore it, "Well then, Mother..?"

 

"Makaylin Argos, but none of that Mother crap. I ain't much older than the rest of you, Miss Makaylin is fine, or Miss Argos if you gotta be formal."

 

Sharo blushed at Miss Argos's crude language. It was anything he hadn't heard, but hearing it from an authority figure in a formal setting was disquieting. "Miss Argos, I'd like to reserve a study room for my friend and I. And then I'd like some helps finding texts and scholarly writings about ancient historical accounts involving the goddesses." Sharp didn't need the help, but he wanted to see if this strange girl actually knew her way around the library. 

 

"Done, number 3, lemme know when you're done." She put a bookmark in her own book and got up, "This way."

 

Miss Argos led Sharp towards the stacks, but didn't go anywhere near the history section. Instead, she led Sharp to an aisle dedicated to ancient art. 

 

"Wait, art? Why here?" He asked in obvious confusion.

 

"The history stuff is all filtered. Not outright censored, but funding doesn't go to anyone who doesn't parrot the church's version of events. You could get books from Nayo that are better about that, but they haven't been free of church influence until pretty recently, so you won't find much information yet. 

 

"But art is different. A lot of ancient cultures shared their stories through pictures and their religion through charms and stuff. So by looking at it, you can get an unfettered view of what they believed. The analyses written are freer too, because people get upset when the Church doesn't fund things related to art, even research. That's why there's an entire sub field of archeology dedicated to it."

 

"Wow, I had no idea." Sharp said in honest amazement, "Thank you Miss Argos."

 

"No problem." Miss Argos shrugged, "History is up near the front, same with religion. Aisles 2 and 5 for ancient religious practices and mythological stories, respectively. This is the best, but you can still find some relevant information up there. Let me know if you need anything else."

 

Sharp nodded and the two parted ways. 2 and 5 were exactly where he would have looked, of course. It seemed Miss Argos was extremely knowledgeable. Sharp felt bad for judging her on her abrasive attitude. 

[GodofGamingRWBY]

Platinum

 

For the most part, Platinum was doing fine with finding books focused on Layo Mysticism. Granted, she already had a general idea of where they were, but the point still stood that she had managed to acquire roughly four books so far. Which wasn't too bad.

 

What WAS bad was what happened when she turned a corner, admittedly walking a bit too quickly, and running into a walking pile of books. Needless to say, the sudden impact combined with the general mass of what she had walked into caused Platinum to stumble back with her own small grunt of surprised, almost falling over herself when some of the books fell onto her. Inwardly, Platinum cursed herself, as this was the second time she ran into someone on accident... In the same day no less.

 

And she especially cursed at herself when she saw who she had ran into.

 

"Hello Aislin" Platinum replied quickly, kneeling down and placing her small stack of books down, "Sorry about that, I wasn't looking where I was going" she added as she begun picking up some of Aislin's books, so she could help fix her mistake, "How have you been doing recently?"

[Shamitako]

Kindle

 

For the second time, Arturia avoided telling Kindle who this "friend" was. Perhaps it was just stubbornness, but then she mentioned being out in the woods, making her and her friend the closest girls to the scene of the incident that hadn't died. Kindle intended to probe further, but was halted by Kaede's apology. She sighed, it wouldn't be right for her to simply ignore something like that. 

 

"I suppose if you're going to be like that, I'll be a little more honest with you." she said, "Frankly, the church has no idea what happened. Due to diplomatic issues with Mother Opium, we've only just begun this investigation in earnest. I came here first because I thought you'd be the most cooperative, not because I suspected you. I apologize for my own aggressive tactics, I'm used to dealing people who are already known to be guilty and just need made to admit it.

 

"With that said, your friend has given me reason to be suspicious of her, and I intend to come back and interrogate he further, once I have a better understanding of events as a whole. Until then, I leave her in your custody. Please ensure she remains available for questioning, Ustole Kaede."

 

And with that, Kindle exited the room. She didn't intend to simply let Arturia slip away, but she'd give the girl a little breathing room. At least until she could get ahold of the relevant medical records.

[Chevaleresse]

Arturia made a strangled-sounding offended noise, and seemed to be about to reply. Fortunately, Kindle left before she could make a fool of herself, and upon the door closing behind her, Arturia visibly deflated, sighing with something that might've been an expletive. "Church officials in my room are the last thing I needed today." She turned towards her bed in a gesture that Kaede might have recognized as her being about to flop upon it in tired frustration, only for her to realize that Lilith was, indeed, still present, and still unconscious. Whether this was a good thing or a bad thing was up for debate. "Sorry, I'm not used to dealing with anyone important, and wasn't really expecting to need to. Uh, this is Lilith, she's. . . having a worse day than I am. Sorry for just bringing her here like this."

[Twinwolf]

Alva breathed a sigh of relief soon after Kindle left. The threat of death had passed, and she was alone with the others. "That was scary..." she shivered a little. "...Uh, it's fine! If she needs help then I'm happy to try!" Then Alva paused. She looked at Lilith and thought for a moment. "...Isn't she the one that dislocated my arm... probably by accident?" she asked. Not that that at all changed her opinion that they should try and help. It was serious business if someone was unconscious, probably way worse problem than just a hurt shoulder. "Is she hurt or something? Should we bring her to a nurse?"

[Chevaleresse]

"She's okay. Physically. I think. She's, uh, had a long day, and for the sake of her privacy I'm gonna leave it at that for now." She sighed. Arturia was in this way too deep. Church officials making death threats, tiny cute goddesses having power short circuits, girls hitting on her after sending her to the hospital. . . it was almost funny. Almost. "I was going to talk to Miss Katherine about her situation in private before I had Miss Bitch over there invade my room." She glanced in Kaede's direction. Arturia forgot sometimes that she was important in the Church; really, she tried to put the organization out of her mind most of the time. Something that was going to have to change, she supposed.

[Twinwolf]

Alva nodded. Alright, none of her business she guessed. She was curious, of course, but she shouldn't pry. "Ah, that's good. That she's not hurt I mean, not that she's had that bad of a day." Alva said, wandering over to her bed and sitting down. She frowned for a moment - she was forgetting something... oh, right! "...I don't think I ever introduced myself to you? I'm Alva, I'm going to be in this room from now on! Kaede and I were in the same cabin during the camp and I heard you needed a new roommate!" Not the whole reason of course, but... well that'd be tough to explain now wouldn't it? Alva absentmindedly grabbed one of her plushes, the cat one, and held it close. She felt a bit calmer already...

[Chevaleresse]

". . . Oh. Arturia, if you hadn't been told already." A definite note of displeasure. Hidden under an attempt to be polite and conflated a bit with her existing. . . everything, but she was still not entirely thrilled to be sharing the room with someone else. It took a moment to click. "Wait, you wanted to be Kaede's roommate?" She gave her existing roommate a questioning look. "I think that's the first time I've heard of someone else wanting to. No offense, Kaede." Something about being around her draining, or something. She felt drained half the time regardless of whether Kaede was around, so Arturia didn't put too much stock in it. It's not like teenaged girls were well-known for only excluding their peers based on fair, unbiased criteria.

[Twinwolf]

"...Yeah, is that weird?" Alva asked, legitimately curious. "We got along well in the camp, after she helped me with my arm. She was... really helpful to me, and I felt really... safe, when she was with me." Alva blushed a little bit, and glanced over to Kaede. "We talked a bit when I got here, and I think we're officially friends!" Her tone was shockingly cheerful for one who had been in the same room as Kaede for as long as she had. "I hope we can get along well too!"